Image of the Month December

Two large Amboseli elephants rising up in the swamps below Kilimajaro in Kenya as they affirm their friendship. With the backdrop of mountains the artwork is like a window into Africa.

The story behind this photograph: 

I captured this image just after I had dropped off my wife at the airstrip in Amboseli National Park. Sandra had joined me for a week on my two-month photo safari through Kenya in 2011. Amboseli is home to the elephants called the “big tuskers”, I was told. And yes, the elephants here are much bigger in appearance than I have seen elsewhere. The last couple of days we had been observing them marching through the swamps and grazing, but I hadn’t been lucky enough to capture an exciting image yet.

Then on this beautiful morning, the clouds were low and covering half of Mount Kilimanjaro, the peak towering above its kingdom below, and I could feel that something was about to happen. I had decided to stay close to the swamps to enjoy this amazing land around me. There is a diversity of dry sand, volcanic rocks and water-filled swamps with moist grass everywhere. Suddenly, in the swamp to my left, were two elephants heaving up their immense bodies, fighting each other.

I grabbed my camera to capture this exciting scene, but it all passed very quickly. It was amazing to see these two colossal animals lifting themselves up with great effort, with a deep strained breath, before their tusks clashed. That’s why I love to go out into nature, where something unpredictable can happen at any time, especially when you least expect it.

The photograph “Affirmation” is part of my “Pride of Africa Collection™” and can be purchased as an original, limited edition fine art print which is personally numbered and signed by myself, Klaus Tiedge, and will be accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity and the Story about the image.